Welcome to our new subscribers. 💛
I am so excited to have you here.
To get started, you can check out some of our posts on different facets of learning,
Or you can explore the learning pill on your own here.
Issue#16
In this issue, you will find:
A framework for unlearning
Reflection Box
🌟The Learning Bank 🌟 - A new section of our weekly newsletter. Here I will share 5 interesting articles, resources, books or things I learned in the past week.
A reader survey!
Zine workshop
An announcement
And a way to connect with me
Let’s go! 🎠
Unlearning
We have been talking about learning and it’s different elements, how to be an effective learner, learning strategies and so on. But any conversation on learning is incomplete without talking about unlearning.
When writing this newsletter, I was reflecting back on all the unlearning I have gone through in my life - a lot of it was around what it meant to be a girl and a woman in a patriarchal world, some about the meaning of success and life, some about my own negative behaviours and patterns, some about relationships, most of them about mental models and the world view I had and I am still in the process.
Then I shifted the focus to myself to the world. We are still crawling our way out of the pandemic- the sudden onset of this deadly virus propelled us into the realm of unlearning. Educators had to unlearn and adapt their ways of teaching, organisations had to unlearn how they worked and the definition of the workplace, we had to unlearn our old behaviours and habits and form completely new ones. Now, I don’t think twice about stepping out with a mask.
In all of this, I was thinking about how does it really happen - the process of unlearning? Are there steps we can take that are deliberate?
I prefer to reflect on my own life and then try to identify patters and derive principles before I jump into research and what others are saying.
This is what I was able to come up with:
Unlearning begins with a dissonance. Something does not sit right, it does not make sense, or is not in alignment with why it is the way it is.
The belief around menstruation and the entry to religious spaces. I was also brought up in a home, where this restriction persisted and it is still there. And I remember, even as a preteen having this strong of sense, hey this does not make sense, this is not right. I was in dissonance with what I inherently knew and believed about the world which is I am no different than the boys and what my environment was constantly telling me.Dissonance leads to some sort of a cognitive and/or emotional response. Either we close up and get defensive or we try to break it down. It’s only when we do latter that we can unlearn.
My mother, who is a doctor by profession and also a religious lady continues to believe in the restriction. Her core belief is that menstrual blood is impure and therefore one can not enter a holy place. She uses the former that is get defensive if questioned, in this scenario, I used the latter - I asked questions and tried to disassemble this thought process.If you take the second step, you begin asking questions and inquiring about why things are the way they are.
With understanding comes acceptance and you choose to shed off your old belief and accept the new.
Dissonance ➡️ Cognitive +/Emotional Response ➡️ Inquiry ➡️ Acceptance
This is not a proven theory. It’s what I was able to identify for myself. Sort of a framework that I can then apply in different spheres of my life.
I also read on what the internet way saying. There is a lot written on how to build in the process of unlearning in education, how teams can unlearn together even how to take an active step to unlearn by yourself.
However in my opinion, when it comes to unlearning our beliefs and thought system, it’s a journey we have to taken within ourselves. Having a mentor, coach, tools, frameworks can make this journey easy but we have to take the first step.
Reflection Box
The Learning Bank 🏦
Introducing our new section - The Learning Bank.
Every week, I will share 5 resources to learn and unlearn from.
Check out this week’s resources:
A study that shows men and women are treated differently at work
Learn about the range of emotions and experience that a human being has and get the tools to make meaningful connections with Brene Brown’s new book Atlas of the Heart
Creativity and 10,000 hours-Is it true?
We talk about humans and learning but let’s talk about How do AI’s learn?
I found this amazing article by another fellow lifelong learner and Teach for America Fellow Eva Keiffenheim on how to remember everything we want from Non Fiction books.
A reader survey
I shared this reader survey in the last issue.
And one of my dear readers filled it up. I see you and I thank you!
But sadly one is not enough- I want to know what you think so please take 2 mins to fill it this time or if survey is not your thing- Send me an email at avnivij3@gmail.com.
Zine Workshop
If you are still interested in exercising your creative muscles, sign up for my Free Virtual Zine workshop that is this Saturday on 28 May 2022 at 11:30 am.
We have only 3 slots left!!!
You can find out it about here and sign up here.
An announcement
Since I have learnt to read, I read to learn.
If you are like me and love reading and believe in an equal world for all genders, and want to unlearn and learn more, sign up to be a part of our new Book Club-Femreads.
We are reading Invisible Women for the month of June and will be meeting on 26 June 2022 for our first virtual meet up.
Connect with me!
If you are a Learning Designer or want to be one and want to have a chat about Anything and Everything about Learning, book a slot here.
You can also follow me on LinkedIn or send me “hey” on avnivij3@gmail.com.
If you liked this newsletter, maybe share it with someone else who’d like it?
Keep learning!
Adios,
Avni